Rays Of Ravenwood
by Lolly6
Summary: Snape before the war, Snape during the war and snape after the war.. The Three loves in his life, a little girl with grey eyes he'll never be able to say no to.. A woman whose memory haunts him with the lyrics of a song and student who loves him regardles


_Hey Guys, Well this is my first attempt at a full length Hermione/Snape story, i know it doesn't seem this way in the beginning but your going to have to trust me that the story is going to go in this direction although i do have plans for this to be a pretty epic story atm! Hope that you enjoy it and please feel free to leave me a comment or any criticism i appriciate anything you have to say:) Anyway this seems as good a place for a disclaimer as any, The known characters from Harry potter obviously don't belong to me, there are some original charactors in here but they are only added into the world and story created by JK Rowling... Thanks so much for giving it a go and reading this... take care, Lolly xx_

**Rays Of Ravenwood**

**Prologue**

It started out like most things did in those dark; dark days, at sunset. The street lights had just come on, and the final rays of the sun were fast retreating the skies as the hooded figures appeared on the hill. Their ominous chanting scaring the birds from the trees, their faces hidden behind the twisted guise of their masks, they walked with military precision. Rows and rows of them adding up to almost a hundred they descended upon the valley, entering the field and following each brother to the stone alter perched in the centre.

There he stood… The man with the plan, the man with the vision of what their world should be, their leader and their betrayer. The fickleness of it all. They each fell as they approached him, to their knees as was their custom, he waited for the silence to capture them. Raising his arms in a sweeping movement as if to steal the voices from their throats. When silence was achieved he began in booming voice to address the crowds… all still face down on their knees, all except the twelve seniors who had risen and taken their seats around the alter behind the dark lord.

"Welcome my devoted to this day of days… Our plan is coming to a head soon, we will be able to stand tall and proud as wizards as stability will be returned to the magical realm. Our enemies are weakening their numbers greatly decreasing as they are no longer able to resist either the seduction of our whispers or the punishment to their resistance that you my proud followers are delivering."

A cheer which was quickly quashed went up at this point, the kneeling feeling proud that their hard work was being noted if not rewarded at this point.

"Yes, Yes feel the pride my loyal ones. However, rumours have reached me that there are some among you who are not as loyal as you would leave me to believe, there are some amongst you who are not what you are wishing me to believe… tsk tsk you naughty ones, did you not think that I would find out? Did you not know that I see all, I know all… That I am all?"

Worried murmuring broke out amongst the ranks, everyone turning to look at each other…

"Stop!" shouted the dark lord. He hated disobedience, "I asked for silence, do not make me ask again."

Silence returned. He walked a deliberate and slow walk around the alter watching all the bent figures.

"Meehan! Templeton! Applegate! Norton! Chrissie! Where are you? Stand each of you." five figures began to gather themselves to their feet, their fear evident as they rose unable to stops the shakes that threatened to topple them the ultimate curst was thrown at them in seconds all five fell back to the floor, their bodies just left, discarded shells of the darkness which had once walked there.

"Let that teach those who think that they can challenge me, despite knowing the truth and being enlightened you are nothing without me I am the supreme force behind the idea, attempting to move against me, will not be accepted. You cannot repent you will only suffer the consequences, these five were lucky they did not suffer but I have greater betrayal to deal with today. You may now leave. All of you except Snape."

The dark lord turned his attention away from the massed crowds who all but one were gathering their thoughts to leave knowing that their orders for the night would be passed down to them soon enough from their respective elder off the council. They disappeared into the night leaving silence behind them as there had been before they arrived. He walked towards his intimate circle. Ignoring the solitary figure still kneeling where many had been, he turned his back to him.

He stood before his intimates and at in a tone which was almost whisper he said, "And you. How disappointed I was to hear about you… Lindelstood" a shocked gasp went out from the inner circle as one of them bravely stood defiant in front of the dark lord. The figure stood before the dark lord, a hand reaching up to the mask, ripping it down and uncovering two beautiful green eyes, and an equally defiant face. Lucille Lindelstood, watched as the dark lord paced before her, "I'm sorry…" she whispered to him,

"Your apologies mean nothing to me, you have betrayed me! I have heard of your meetings with that mud blood loving fool! How dare you betray me?" Her head bent down towards her body at this point as the dark lord stood in front of her…in a voice no louder then a whisper and only directed at her he whispered " I loved you, and you do this to me?" tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she shouted out " I can longer stand by and watch the pain… the blood, it taints me! I see it when I sleep…. I hear the screams! I cannot do it any more… I cannot watch you change…. You are so different to me now, I hardly recognise you any more, when I see your face it's changed so much you are not who you were…" she mumbled as the tears began to fall.

"I AM BETTER…. I AM MORE THEN I EVER WAS BEFORE!" he shouted. "how can you not see that? Why must you do this to me?" his demands getting louder then as if he realised where he was he stopped and looked round at the other 11 intimates surrounding him. " Let it be known, that no one shall betray me." he rose his wand and pointed at the woman who he had loved who had loved him and began the chant of the death curse, Lucille rose her own wand and pointing it at herself looked at him simply and said "Not to me, I won't allow you" and killed herself. Her body fell to the floor in a heap as a gasp went out from the other intimates.

The dark lord did not even give the body a second glance as he turned back to the still kneeling man. "Rise." He ordered. "Remove the mask" The figure rose up and removed his mask, shaking slightly as he realised what had just happened in the last five minutes. He had watched as not only was the dark lords wife and closest ally revealed as a betrayer but also as she had killed herself in order to prevent him killing her.

"My lord…" he said as he bowed swiftly, "Severus, allow me to be brief. I have watched you…. You intrigue me. You seem to posses a cleverness that not many of your brethren can boast. I believe that you are from the village of Ailsington originally are you not my boy?" Snape stood speechless nodding.

"There is a college there… I wish a raid to be made on it, kill all who get in the way, burn the buildings and leave nothing standing if at all possible, you will have 15 minutes once you are in there before the enemy can identify your location so I expect you to prove yourself worthy of the honour of your promotion by making it a successful raid. Do not bring any one back with you I do not feel the need for entertainment."

He turned and moved back to where the fallen body of his wife lay, he bent down as if to caress her now silent cold face but instead ripping a pendant from he neck, grabbing a handful of her blonde locks with it he thrust the chain at Snape and said,

"You are in charge of the elementists, all who wear this symbol shall answer to you, just as you once answered to Lucille. Make no mistake though, you fail me and your fate shall be worse then hers, Damn Gryffindor that she was." the Dark lord shook his head as if to shake the whispers of the words away that were calling to him from his dead wife and said " The day after tomorrow then, I expect to see you back here with news of a successful raid, by 9:15 at the last, and do try to be punctual boy… I'd hate to have to find another replacement for the elementists before the week was out."

The dark lord nodded at them all one last time and then he himself disappeared into the thin air surrounding him, it was only then that the other members of the intimates, who made up his council stood from their seats, first one then all of them had removed their masks.

A woman with flowing black hair and maniacal brown eyes bent down close to Lucille and holding her head in her lap began to wail. She was pulled up quickly by the man stood next to her, and slapped hardly across the face. "Now is not the time Bellatrix, She got what she deserved, please do not debase yourself in such a way crying over such filth." The woman held her face and answered "Please let me bury her , please let me give her the ending befitting her time as the masters right hand at least, even if its just an unmarked grave, please do not make me leave her out alone like the fodder to rot!" Sighing her husband looked at her and said "Do what you must but be quick about it, and never talk of her again!"

Walking off he left her to prepare her oldest friend for the grave, giving her mere moments to do so. He walked up to and embraced the lone shell shocked man who had just been promoted. "Well done Severus, always knew that you had it in you, your father would have been very proud of you." Severus smiled. Not something that he did often but in that moment he smiled the widest smile he could, because he had proved something. He took the mans extended hand and then shook hands with all the members of the intimates before finally following them into the distances, where they too as with everyone else had disappeared into thin air, the silent night air returning to the birds as they returned to their nests to watch from trees as the world around them changed.

_Five Years Before _

_"You're Beautiful." he whispered kissing her again, swatting him softly on the face she giggled and said " So you keep telling me, you charmer you… But what I want to know is when you turned into this charmer exactly, The Severus I remember was far too quiet for such declarations of love as you make for me." The boys face fell " You're mocking me, you're just like everyone else aren't you?" He turned to walk away. The girls face fell and quickly she chased after him pulling his arm so that faced her and wrapping his arms around her face, she stood on tip toes and kissed him._

_"There's no one like me Severus," she whispered into his lips " Or rather there better not be, because I'd hate to have to fight for you, but don't you worry I'd fight." He smiled holding her closer to him and said "Viola there is no one like you and just so you know, there's no one else but me who would put up with you." slapping him again she moved away and said "Severus Hayden Snape, I swear one day when I'm old and grey you'll be the death of me…"_

_Kissing her again he said " That's right Darlin' but right now I enjoy just being with you." she smiled into his lips and said "Do you really have to go back to school tomorrow? I don't know if I can take this any more I miss you so much when your away." There were tears in her eyes when she said it, He lifted his hands to her eyes and said, "Viola Fiona Ravenwood, I love you… you know I do. But I must go back to school." moving away from him slowly and she sighed and said "I Know you do, it just gets harder every time you go." He looked at her a heavy feeling coming over him all of a sudden and said "I know, and I hate it. I hate that we're so young and there's so much standing in our way, I Hate that we both have to go to school, I hate that there is so many things stopping us being together, but most of all I hate that your looking at me in that way, with that pain that I can't make go away. I love you Viola." He grabbed her to him and kissed her harder then he had ever kissed anyone before. They didn't stop they just carried on, ending up lying in each others arms under the moonlight. He stroked her hair and whispered. "Come on love, we've got to get home, your Mam is going to kill me for getting you home so late as it is." Viola turned in his arms and whispered "That was goodbye wasn't it Severus?" The hard lump came back in his chest as tears came to his eyes as he buried his face in her scent and said "I hope not… But maybe… I don't know… There so much wrong with what is happening, so many things standing in the way!" Viola stopped him and kissed him saying. "So go do those things, I'll be waiting for you, I can't promise I'm always going to be here but I'll wait until you get back to save me like you did when we first met remember? I love you Severus, this isn't goodbye, it can't be cause it doesn't feel like it." She kissed him one last time before running into her mothers house, leaving the fifteen your old boy who had stolen her heart to walk home in the moonlight alone, lost and confused about what the future held for him…. For her…. For them._

The night of the raid approached and Severus paced the path nervously… What was he doing here? It had been over five years, was she still even here? He hoped not, hoped that she had followed her dreams, so that she would not be about to see him confronted with failing his. His biggest hope as he leaned forward to ring the door bell was that she was gone, that she had gone to India like she dreamed. That she was studying art, that she was a model, that she was married! Anything other then being in that house was what he hoped for her.

The door bell rang, echoing round the chambers of the house and it took a few moments for the door to be slung open, a woman stood there, her hair greying but the blackness of it still showing through the age, her eyes were crystal Blue, not smiling but not cold either. She looked inquisitively at the man propping up her doorstep,

"You." she almost spat at him. Sighing he responded "Good Evening Mrs Ravenwood." pulling the door behind her she glared him and said "What are you doing here? How dare you come here, you cretin… If Viol… sees you… what are you doing? Thinking you can start this up again? Turning up when you feel like it? She's moved on …" His face fell as the spirit of hope which had danced within him faltered again,

"Is she still here?" Iris Ravenwood glared at him "Of course she is, where else could she go in the end?"

That caught his attention, "The end? What's wrong with her? Is she ok? What's happened? I know you don't like me but please tell me, that she's ok!"

A sound came from the door and Severus watched in shock as a small hand reached round the door,

"Nana?" a girl voice called, "Go back in house Darlin' I'll be right in, just talking to someone whose about to leave that's all." the girl persisted tugging at the door, "Nana; Holly's fallen down, her knee is bleeding, and she's crying." Sighing Iris turned to go back in the house, turning to Severus she said "Wait here if you can be bothered to stick around this time, I'll be two minutes, though I expect you to be gone by the time I get back, leaving is all you seem to be good at." picking up the small child she carried her into the house and slammed the door shut.

Severus stood in shock on the doorstep, that child…. That child had been the spitting image of Viola, it was scary, Dark almost black hair with shining grey eyes. A worried thought entered his mind as he remembered that night, the last night they were together but he reasoned it away, Viola was the youngest of four. And there had always been an uncanny similarity between her and her older sister Rose. Yes that must be it, that little girl and the other one, Holly. They must be Rose's children. He had a vague memory of Viola saying in her last letter that Rose had been expecting her first baby. That child must be one of them.

The door opened again and he looked up expecting to see Iris returning to continue her verbal assault on him but was startled to see the small child come back again "Holly's all better now, Nana made it all good again." she said a knowing smile on her face.

Severus could not help himself he bent down on his knees to be on eye level with the child and said "How marvellous, your Nana always good at making things better, Is your auntie Viola home by any chance, I'm an old friend of hers and I've not seen her very a long time and have been hoping to see her if I can." He lied, He wanted to make sure she wasn't here, even if it meant lying to this child. He done a lot worse things in the last five years, that this didn't even trigger the tiniest particle of guilt within him.

"Don't be silly she left a long time ago, I don't remember her any more. Holly says she does sometimes but I don't believe her. She went away when we were very little."

Snape listened to the garbled conversation trying to pick out the important bits… "Where did she go?" The girl looked up at him, it was then that he noticed it, Viola's eyes staring out to him as the girl whispered "To the angels, Nana said that Mama went to be with the angels."

Iris pushed open the doors, "Hazel baby are you out here?" she met the cold steel eyes of Severus as he stood to look at her, "She's dead?" he whispered questioningly. Iris nodded sadly gripping the little girl up to her chest. "Three years ago now." Severus fell to the floor his body shaking with grief, he thought he could handle her leaving, handle her moving on, handle her being married having a stream of lovers anything other then her being here to witness what he had become but he was wrong. The one thing he had not ever considered trying to prepare himself for was the idea that should could be dead. That she was no longer waiting for him as he waited for her each and every night. He saw her, he saw her lying in his arms, smelt her scent surrounding him as dreams took him to a world where the two of them were together. She had been his salvation battling away the dreams of the torture he'd had to inflict the pain and disease he had turned into. She had been his humanity and now she was gone.

"How?" he whispered finding the blue eyes again. "You'd better come in." Iris said simply looking at him, she had never approved of him, seeing how much he had pained her favourite, her youngest daughter. But she had seen how fiercely the girl had loved him, and for that she was in a way thankful that he had given her in her short life that true love which might have other wise been denied her and if anything could be said about her youngest daughter, it was that viola hade been born to love. And she knew that he'd love viola too, scarily so, his intensity towards her girl had scared her so much she had almost been thankful when he'd had to go away to school every couple of months giving the two of them so cooling off time in between.

Severus scraped himself off the floor and followed the retreating form of Iris and the enquiring face of the girl called Hazel into the house, closing the door behind him he breathed in the familiar scent. The scent that contributed to creating the scent of her. They entered the kitchen where another little girl slightly older with a plaster on her grazed knee sat eating a bar of chocolate "Holly, sweetness how about you take Hazel upstairs and the two of you share that chocolate and watch one of the old movies in your room?" Holly looked at her Grandmother seeing the stern lines falling across her face she sighed knowing their would be no point in arguing, standing up she said "Come one Hazel, lets go sit and watch that film you like." the younger girl smiled at her grandma and turning to Snape said "Will you tell me a story about my Mama later then, if I'm good girl? Can he Nana? He said he used to know her!" Iris looked at the little girl and smiling sadly said "Maybe Baby, we'll see if he's still here when the film ends and if you've been a good girl alright?"

Hazel smiled at Severus and said "You think I've been a good girl don't you?" Lost in grief he met her eyes softly and smiled, he'd never been able to say no to those glowing grey eyes since he'd first looked into them as 7 year old. He sure as hell didn't think he'd be able to now. "Of course I will." he said, then seeing the look Iris gave him said "If I'm still here, but if I'm not…" he bent down in front of her and reached into his pocket, "Here have this." He said simply handing her a wooden rosary, looking at Iris he explained "Viola gave me this just before the last time I left, its made of Sandalwood it smells like how she used to do, she wanted me to remember it." Tears started to flow down his cheek as Hazel holding the gift as if it were something sacred. Holding it to herself she looked up at him and hugging his knees said "Thank you so much." she ran off behind Holly waving she shouted "I hope you are still here when I get down again!"

"I'm beginning to understand almost now how Viola could love you like she did." Iris said simply moving to put the kettle on. "Sit Severus, we've got a lot to talk about." he looked at her and saw that the hatred had originally been in her eyes when he arrived was replaced with and almost compassion of sorts which flickered within the crystal depths.

"She is my daughter isn't she?" he asked simply take a seat at the breakfast bar watching her watch the kettle boil. All compassion had left her eyes when she turned round and glared at him "Of course she is, you useless waste of space, Viola wouldn't look at another man after she met you. Loved you for nearly ten years she did ever since she was a little girl who got stuck up a tree and the boy next door helped her down again." He looked down ashamed of himself. "I'm so sorry I don't mean to make it sound like I didn't think she was, I just don't understand. What happened to Viola? Why didn't she tell me about Hazel? How old is Hazel? I need to know everything."

Iris sighed handed him a cup of tea and said, "I know you do Darlin' but I don't think I know everything you need to know, there's only one person who knows all that and she's not here any more…" Iris started crying, clearing her voice she said calmly "She left you something though, said you'd come back, I didn't believe her, but I should have known, that girl was always right." Snape looked at her again and said simply… "Please Iris just tell me how she died?" Iris sat there looking defeated and said simply, "I don't really know to be honest Darlin' it happened so suddenly, Hazel was two then. She woke up one morning and just couldn't get out of bed. It was like her limbs had just decided to stop moving. The doctor came said that there wasn't anything he could do cause he couldn't find anything wrong with her. Then she just started to fade away. It was like she was punishing herself for something. She used to look in the distance sometimes and see things that no one else could see, then she'd start crying. She died not a month later. A fever they called it. But there was no fever. I don't know what it was."

Snape looked at her, he had never heard of anything like that, worrying in case the disease had been magical in its founding but couldn't see how it could have been. He looked at her and said, "Did she suffer?"

Iris shook her head smiling and said, "No there was no suffering apart from the tears, it was just the rest of us who suffered as she played that damn song she loved over and over again, for Hazel to memorise. The one that you used to sing to her. The Galway girl one." Iris sighed and said "Day and night she played that song. We played it at her funeral too, it relaxed her, I think it made her feel like you were closer again somehow."

Severus sat, his face fallen as all this information was thrown at him, "You said she left me something?" he said trying not to let too much emotion slip into his voice, as he felt himself flooded with thoughts and memories, all of her… The dreams he had …. The hopes he'd had for the future! Everything had vanished with her. He had lost him self to a mad mans ideal in an attempt to fit in with a society where he was ostracised but that didn't matter now… nothing mattered because she was gone. She had always been the light in the background for him, the hope he could one day return to her and give her everything that she deserved… He tried to hide the tears forming in his eyes as he thought about it. "Hey now, there's no call for that, you sit and have a good cry… Viola cried often enough over you that I think its only fair that you allow yourself to cry for her even if it is just this once." Iris pointed out as she moved to the kitchen cupboard. "Now I'm going to go and get the stuff she left you from upstairs, Damn girl always knew you would have come back for you and so packed you up a box of things, you know how she was… Never one for small gestures." Iris smiled….Her face darkening for a moment as she said, I'll leave you read it all in peace, you can even leave the house and take it home with you if you want but there is one more thing which we are going to need to discuss… That's Hazel. Viola wanted you to have custody of her when you came back, she said you'd be ready for the responsible enough for her then." Severus was shaking, shaking with stress, with loss and with disbelief at what had just been said to him. "No…" he said simply "I Can't do that…" Iris looked at him and said sharply "That's what I told her you'd say … She seemed to have this unwavering faith in you for some reason though, I hope you find it in yourself though to step up to the mark though cause there is a little girl upstairs, one who I refuse to see hurt in any way shape or form. I've seen you make my daughter cry I will not stand back and watch you make my grand daughter cry too."

He sat in silence watching the clock, watching the sky, watching the walls. He saw nothing at all while he watched. All he did was wait for Iris to come back. It took her about twenty minutes before she returned carrying a box which was just a bit larger then a shoe box into the kitchen with her.

"Would you mind if I sat in the garden to look at it?" he asked quietly Iris nodded at him without a smile. She was compassionate to his feelings knowing how hard it must be for him to find out that she was gone but she still had a little girl upstairs to care for and would not allow herself to forget that this was the man who had left her daughter pregnant at just turned fifteen, who had never come back and who had left her heartbroken.

"Of course you can, The chairs are on the deck under the tree where the two of you used to play. Take your cup of tea with you if you want. I'll still be here when your finished."

She moved to the cupboard and began assembling products, it was approaching dinner time and she needed to get a move on if it was to be ready in time.

Severus moved through the long garden looking at the sun as it began to set and the stars which had just begun to glimmer in the sky, he walked towards the decking and sat under the big old oak tree which grew at the bottom of the garden, the box balanced on his knees for a moment while he examined it.

It was in a similar shape to a shoe box but bigger, maybe it had had boots in it or something similar… He smiled as he thought of viola in her big cream suede boots which she'd worn on their first official date. Having bought them specially for the occasion. He pulled open the box and smiled as he saw it was filled pretty much to the hilt with all kinds of things, but nestled on the top of all the packages was a white envelope, with his name carefully sprawled across it. Severus.

He lifted the envelope out and placed the box carefully on the decking next to him, holding the envelope in his hands he lifted it to his face smelling it and caressing it with his thumb and forefinger, she was gone, but she had left him this. He opened the envelope and pulled the single sheet of paper out of it and began to read.

He read and re-read the letter, letting the words sink in and consume him. The tears began to fall from the ache that took him over. Finally for the first time in five years he allowed himself to feel, and all he felt was pain. The pain of loss, the pain of love and the pain of regret for what he had done.

It was in that moment that he made his decision.

It would be hard but he had to do right even if it cost him his life, There was only one man who could help him achieve this, one man who could save him.

Returning to the house holding the box he walked into the kitchen, "You were right, she wants me to take Hazel." He said softly looking at Iris who had tears forming as she submissively bent her head forward at the renewed loss. "I knew she did." she whispered softly. Severus looked at her and said, "I can't take her yet, promise me you'll take care of her for a while longer, I need to sort things out first. I need to sort my life out and I don't know how long that's going to take…." " She can stay here as long as she needs to." Iris interrupted. Severus nodded and said "Will you tell her about me? About who I am I mean. I don't want her to be scared of me." Iris nodded and said "Go Sort yourself out and come back as soon as you can ok."

Severus left the house with a grateful nod, hoping one day soon to be able to comeback and claim his daughter. Walking down the road and a good distance from the house he pulled out his want and apparated to Hogwarts, he needed to see Albus Dumbledore.


End file.
